When Robert Shiller talks I listen

I’m kind of a bad listener. Always have been, always will be. There is not medication that will make me listen. Really, the only chance you have of me listening is if you are interesting, amusing or intelligent–at the right moments.

The moment is now for Robert Shiller (The guy on the left, who is smart and has a full head of hair). The reason is simple; he warned everyone about the subprime mortgage debacle and has proven in other ways to ‘give it straight’.

Shiller discusses in a recent New York Times article that the decline of home prices could continue for some time. He is hardly a pessimist in my view and offered this, “Something is definitely different about real estate. Long declines do happen with some regularity. And despite the uptick last week in pending home sales and recent improvement in consumer confidence, we still appear to be in a continuing price decline.”

Shiller is not trying to sell anything. He is simply making valid points. Some of the talking heads have been rising with the latest surge in the stock market and real estate but its tough to take seriously. Not when you have trusted economists like Shiller giving educated opinions.